May Meeting (Zoom) 05/11/2022

The Surprising Science of Brain Organoids

One of the most exciting technologies to emerge from the cultivation of

human pluripotent stem cells is tissue engineering. Stem cells grown as a flat culture in a dish have the capacity to differentiate into any cell type. However, when grown under conditions that allow them to extend in three dimensions, they can form organoids that resemble the specific organ toward which their differentiation was directed. When neuronal differentiation occurs under 3D conditions, the cells assemble into brain-like spheroids of about 5 mm. The similarities to the human brain are stunning.

Dr. Kenneth S. Kosik, M.A. M.D., is the Harriman Professor of Neuroscience in UCSB's Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. He is a neuroscientist who served as professor at the Harvard Medical School from 1996-2004 before moving to UCSB, where he also is Co-Director of the Neuroscience Research Institute. He co-authored Outsmarting Alzheimer's Disease, co-founded the Learning and the Brain Conference for educators, and conducted seminal research in Alzheimer's disease genetics and cell biology. His work in Colombia on familial Alzheimer's disease has appeared in the New York Times, BBC, CNN, PBS and CBS 60 Minutes. His UCSB Arts and Humanities commencement address was archived at the Graduation Wisdom Best Commencement Speeches web site.